Why is a natural medicine perceived to be of benefit only after its active ingredient is isolated, patented and turned into a pharmaceutical? Obviously $$$ has much to account for this phenomena at the cost of the recipient because the whole intact herb is much better because for eg. it has factors that mitigate against any toxicity. It seems economics is the ruler of health. The cost is to humans and the national economy is completely contrary to what we should be aiming for. Health to all that need it. Not money for share holders. Of all the drugs manufactured from herbal ingredients, eg. statins have not proven to be of benefit, but rather deficit to the community.
Now the thinking is to go for integrated medicine which includes both natural and synthetic drugs.
It is good thinking from the patient point of view.Isolates are more or less equivalent to pure synthetic chemicals.The purity(chemical composition) and other therapeutic properties can be controlled better than natural ingredients.Natural ingredients are mixture of chemical components. The nature of chemical composition and their quantitation will vary depending on various factors i.e.source of obtaining the plant material,processing of the material and many more.However there are certain guidelines regarding the standardisation of the plant extracts.Hence the therapeutic efficacy slightly change from batch to batch.Where the slight therapeutic changes are not matter of the treatment, we can go for the natural ingredients.Where a constant therapeutic efficacy is important the isolates or synthetic drugs are the choice.
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